Parametric Study of Stone Column Using PLAXIS 2D

Abstract

AbstractWhen important structures are constructed on very soft soil, soil stabilizing methods are adopted. The stone column is one of the soil's stabilizing methods that is used to increase the strength of soil and decrease the settlement of soil. The key objective of this paper is to study the influence of key parameters on the settlement and loading behaviour of a column. In this study, a series of numerical analyses have been performed by using PLAXIS 2D (Finite element method software) in an axisymmetric model to understand the effect of key parameters. PLAXIS is a software based on the finite element method technique, which is used to do numerical analysis. Mohr–Coulomb model is an Elasto-plastic model used in this study to carry out the simulation of soft clay. In this study, settlement profile of soil is considered to understand the effect of slenderness ratio, undrained shear strength of soft soil, internal friction angle of the column, modular ratio and area replacement ratio of the column. A comparison of soil stabilization in the form of soil settlement profile with variation is considered. It is seen that increasing the undrained shear strength of soft soil and the internal friction angle of column material enhanced the load-bearing capacity. Increasing the modular ratio led to a decrement in load-bearing capacity. Also, L/D = 4 is found to be optimum for a floating sand column.KeywordsStone columnSettlement behaviourPLAXIS